Study of Factors Influencing Vehicle Hydroplaning Speed (original) (raw)

Research of the influence of tire hydroplaning on directional stability of vehicle

Transport, 2013

Vehicle use is inherently linked to the risks. While transport means are being constantly improved, active and passive safety issues appeared to be more and more complex what makes experimental testing and numerical modelling problems of safety-sensitive structures considerably actual. In case of hydroplaning phenomenon to keep the vehicle's stable direction its movement becomes more difficult. Selection of the safe speed is one of the main objectives in order to ensure greater traffic safety and reduce the possibility of an accident. The aspects of tire simulation by finite element method were revealed and analysis of the impact of a vehicle's speed on the appearance of hydroplaning process was performed. The peculiarities of Euler-Lagrange formulation of dynamical problems and modelling of fluidstructure interaction by finite element method are presented in the research. The article describes preliminary models developed using the PATRAN and DYTRAN software packages. On the basis of these models, numerical calculations have been performed, in consequences the values of critical speed of the tire hydroplaning was obtained.

Modeling of Tire-Road Surface Interaction under Wet Conditions

Research Article

The occurrence of wet-weather accidents, from the perspective of the road surface characters caused by poor fluid friction obtained from the tire hydroplaning has for many years been a challenge for various road authorities. Any traction failure throughout high rushing causes fatal accidents and loss of most human lives. Many researchers, since the 1920s focused on aspects of measurement and prediction of fluid friction and the development of strategies to reduce wet-weather condition accidents. Despite the improvements in measurement techniques, the understanding of hydroplaning mechanisms has not improved much over the past decades due to a lack of development in the theoretical and numerical models that can explain and simulate the mechanisms. The study aims to model a tire-road interaction using finite element method to analyze fluid friction forces and hydroplaning effects during wet conditions. The findings show that the hydroplaning speed decreases with increasing water film thickness and tire inflation pressure i.e. a water thickness range of 1mm to 10mm generated a speed of 48.1m/s to 46.3m/s while as tire pressure range of 100kPa to 250kPa generated a speed of 42269.8m/s to 42261m/s. It was also observed that fluid friction force decreases with increasing tire sliding speed and water film thickness.

Analyzing Effect of Tire Groove Patterns on Hydroplaning Speed

Hydroplaning is a major safety concern in wet-weather driving. Grooved tires have been commonly used to improve skid resistance and increase the hydroplaning speed. Tire grooves help in the expulsion of water from the tire pavement contact region by providing escape channels. Past researchers have shown that tire groove spacing, groove width and groove depth affect skid resistance. However, analytical tools are unavailable for highway engineers to evaluate hydroplaning speed taking into consideration basic geometric parameters such as tire groove width, groove depth and spacing etc. The present paper describes a numerical analytical tool to study the effect of tire groove spacing, groove width and groove depth on hydroplaning speed by means of earlier verified analytical hydroplaning modeling for tire having transverse groove pattern, longitudinal groove pattern and combined transverse and longitudinal groove pattern on plane pavement surface are analyzed in this paper.

Analytical Modeling of Effects of Rib Tires on Hydroplaning

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2008

Hydroplaning is known to be a major cause of wet-weather road accidents. The risk of hydroplaning in wet-weather driving is a function of the depth of surface water, pavement texture properties, and tire characteristics. With the aim to improve and ensure wet-weather driving safety, extensive experimental studies have been conducted by researchers to understand how tire characteristics (in particular, tire tread depth), would affect vehicle hydroplaning risk. Rib tires have been commonly used for such experiments. Relationships derived experimentally by past researchers are available to estimate the effect of rib-tire tread depth on hydroplaning risk. However, such statistical relationships have limitations in their application range and transferability. They also do not provide detailed insights into the mechanism of hydroplaning. These limitations can be overcome through development of a theoretically derived analytical model. This paper presents an analytical simulation study tha...

Modeling and Analysis of Truck Hydroplaning on Highways

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2008

The widely adopted NASA hydroplaning equation has been able to predict closely the hydroplaning speed of passenger cars on a wet pavement. However, field observations and experimental studies have found that the equation cannot explain the hydroplaning behaviors of trucks. According to the NASA equation, trucks hydroplane only at a speed much higher than the normal range of travel speeds on highways. However, this conclusion is not supported by real-world experience and field tests. In addition, field observations and experimental studies have found that lightly loaded trucks are more prone to hydroplaning than heavily loaded ones. This phenomenon cannot be explained by the NASA equation, which states that, regardless of the magnitude of wheel load, hydroplaning speed is the same if tire inflation pressure remains unchanged. To the authors’ knowledge, no studies have demonstrated theoretically or analytically why trucks behave differently from passenger cars in their hydroplaning be...

Relative Effectiveness of Grooves in Tire and Pavement for Reducing Vehicle Hydroplaning Risk

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2010

Grooving of pavement surface and tire tread has been accepted as good practice to enhance road travel safety against wet weather skidding and hydroplaning. Many guidelines on this practice have been derived from findings of experimental studies and field experience. However, theoretical studies to provide insights into the factors and mechanisms involved are lacking.

Modeling Hydroplaning and Effects of Pavement Microtexture

Transportation Research Record, 2005

Hydroplaning on wet pavement occurs when a vehicle reaches a critical speed and causes a loss of contact between its tires and the pavement surface. This paper presents the development of a three-dimensional finite volume model that simulates the hydroplaning phenomenon. The theoretical considerations of the flow simulation model are described. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results in the literature and with those obtained by the well-known hydroplaning equation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The tire pressure-hydroplaning speed relationship predicted by the model is found to match well the one obtained with the NASA hydroplaning equation. Analyses of the results of the present study indicate that pavement microtexture in the 0.2-to 0.5-mm range can delay hydroplaning (i.e., raise the speed at which hydroplaning occurs). The paper also shows that the NASA hydroplaning equation provides a conservative estimate of the hydroplaning speed. The analyses in the present study indicate that when the microtexture of the pavement is considered, the hydroplaning speed predicted by the proposed model deviates from the speed predicted by the smooth surface relationship represented by the NASA hydroplaning equation. The discrepancies in hydroplaning speed are about 1% for a 0.1-mm microtexture depth and 22% for a 0.5-mm microtexture depth. The validity of the proposed model was verified by a check of the computed friction coefficient against the experimental results reported in the literature for pavement surfaces with known microtexture depths.

Impact of Tire and Traffic Parameters on Water Pressure in Pavement

Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B: Pavements

It is generally believed that, irrespective of pavement type, the water on the pavement surface or water build up in the internal voids, or water pressure through cracks due to traffic action plays a significant role for the functional and structural failure of the pavement. Although extensive studies on water related material degradation have been conducted in the last fifty years, research on measuring water pressure due to dynamic action of load and its impact on pavement performance is very limited. The influence of tire characteristics on asphalt surfaces is also very limited. This study attempts to address the impact of water and tire parameters in the pavement subjected to dynamic loading. The idealised pavement consisted of 100mm concrete slab with 2mm continuous fissure. The concrete pavement was overlaid with 20mm semi permeable asphalt surface to evaluate the influence of asphalt surfaces on the water pressure. The slabs were submerged with 2mm and 4mm water and were subjected to 5kN and 10kN loads applied at 1Hz, 5Hz, 10Hz and 15Hz. The loading plate was designed to simulate new and part worn tires with a square and a square with channel pattern with up to 8mm thickness to represent tread characteristics. It was found that dynamic water pressure increases significantly when high frequency loading combined with square type of tread, and water trapped inside the groove which generates pumping action. The water pressure also increases with thread thickness. Load magnitude and depth of surface water have marginal impact on the water pressure in the pavement.